Hunk (VLD)
Hunk is the current Yellow Paladin who pilots the Yellow Lion of Voltron. He was previously an engineer cadet at the Galaxy Garrison. Following Lance's simple idea to sneak out after hours and tail Pidge to the Garrison's roof, Hunk witnesses Shiro's crash-landing on Earth a year after the purported Kerberos Mission's disaster. He joins the cadets in rescuing Shiro from the Garrison military alongside Keith, and investigates why aliens are coming to Earth. His assistance in discovering the Blue Lion triggers the events leading to the return of Voltron, beginning Hunk's new life as a Paladin fighting the Galra Empire. Appearance Personality Initially nervous, cowardly, and prone to motion sickness, panic, and nausea, Hunk is shown to be a reluctant Paladin more concerned with food and safety than battling aliens from across the galaxy. He even admits his desire to return to his family and disinterest in fighting a war. Hunk does not fully realize the dire situation he has the power to change until he meets Shay and learns she has no concept of what freedom is because her people have been ruled by the Galra Empire since before her birth. After witnessing her people's suffering and Shay's bravery to save his life at the risk of her own, Hunk quickly grows into a true Paladin intent on defending all good in the universe, not suffering any of his previous fear and unfortunate symptoms since. Along with his genius knowledge of mechanical equipment and science, Hunk's intuition is extraordinarily sharp and he is distrustful of those outside of Team Voltron after the Castle of Lions is nearly lost, though his good heart and honest desire to assist others can dismiss his suspicions despite his good judgement. He remains cautious, logical, and can be head-strong in his beliefs, whether they be out of self-preservation or the need to do good. Hunk may take his role and mission as a Paladin seriously, but he is still the lighthearted, comical joker of the team who enjoys making his friends laugh, teasing them, and will readily give hugs and cook up a delicious meal to satiate his appetite. As the "straight man" of the group with a sometimes morbid sense of humor, Hunk will question the lack of logic and the bountiful absurdity of their reality, such as being inside a "giant cat head" and how lions "turn into legs". His presence brings about a sense of casual air amidst any number of the Voltron team's tense situations, in its own way supporting his team as much as when he is on the battlefield and fighting alongside them. Abilties Hunk's Bayard takes the form of a large single-barreled blaster cannon for powerful rapid-fire attacks. Like other Paladins, his armor enables him to form an energy shield for defense, and contains a jetpack for brief sustained flight. While he initially struggles with the weight of the Bayard cannon, Hunk is noted to have the strongest natural physical strength of all the Paladins due to his body's larger size, although he is also the least agile and slowest Paladin. His Bayard enables him to overwhelm enemies from a distance during combat; long range seems to be his preference, as Hunk has not displayed any close-combat prowess. While not studying as a fighter pilot officially, Hunk shows notable skill piloting the Yellow Lion. Hunk is a highly skilled and creative cook who can make culinary cuisines out of unfamiliar alien ingredients; his mind is often filled with thoughts of food, but his creativity is mirrored in how he is one of the most technologically adept out of the Paladins - rivaled only by Pidge. His aptitude with making ingredients, data, mechanical parts, and equipment work in his favor as nonchalantly as he does is proof of both Hunk's training at the Galaxy Garrison as an engineer cadet and his natural intelligence. Hunk's vast engineering and scientific knowledge allows him to realize ingenious breakthroughs such as deciphering alien data and recognizing it as a Fraunhofer Line of an unknown element, and then quickly building a Geiger Counter to detect it. His familiarity with human technology and basic principles of science allow Hunk to easily hotwire alien technology and quickly determine the cause of a malfunction in alien spacecrafts, to such an extent that he can detect when someone has lied about the cause. Trivia * Hunk's full name has not been revealed. * Tyler Labine, Hunk's voice actor, has described Hunk as being as young as 17.Hunk's Birthday Interview with Tyler Labine 2017 (-7:50) * Tyler Labine has stated that Hunk is Samoan.Tyler Labine's Twitter Unlike with Lance being stated as Cuban,Jeremy Shada at New York Comic Con 2016 it is not yet known if this is brought up in a future episode script. * Hunk and Pidge are two equally tech-savvy characters described as being "two sides of the same coin": while Pidge is the more creating, engineering, "figuring out" side, Hunk is the "build it and make it work" side.Nerdist with Lauren Montgomery, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Christine Bian March 2016 * Hunk is based on the character Hunk of the previous Voltron franchises, who in turn was based on the character Tsuyoshi Seidō of Beast King GoLion. Navigation Category:Characters Category:Galaxy Garrison Category:Humans Category:Male Characters Category:Paladins Category:Team Voltron